Environmental correlations among grain yield and other important traits of wheat in drylands

Summary

Environmental correlation coefficients were computed among all pairs of five traits, namely grain yield, heading date, number of tillers per m², plant height and 1000-grain weight (grain size) using 30 Triticum durum and 30 Triticum aestivum varieties grown in 18 environments. Grain yield was significantly correlated with the other four traits in almost all of the varieties. The mean correlation coefficient over all varieties ranged from 0.58 to −0.83 for durum wheat and 0.66 to 0.88 for aestivum wheat. The correlation coefficients between heading date and the other traits were also significant, ranging from −0.45 to −0.79 in durum wheat and −0.61 to −0.85 in aestivum wheat. The correlation coefficient between number of tillers with plant height and 1000-grain weight were the smallest, 0.19−0.32 in durum wheat and 0.39−0.60 in aestivum wheat. It was concluded that agronomic practices favouring early and good stand establishment in the dry regions will favour the yield components and important adaptive traits, which contribute towards larger yields. Significant differences were found among genotypes in the environmental correlation coefficients and the associated changes in one trait as a result of changes in other traits.